Oct 31: Halloween

Halloween is a popular event in Iceland, with some large scale events taking place around the day itself.

This year's event will be different as the usual events are mostly cancelled and the trick or treating is not encouraged.

I remember visiting the Gunnuhver Hot Springs and being told about the story of the name. I then learned the story for my guiding (which has been delayed of course by Covid-19). Atlas Obscura tell the story here.

The legend goes that an old woman named Gudrun, “Gunna” for short, lived in a small community on the Reykjanes peninsula sometime in the 18th century. She was largely disliked, and was suspected of being a witch because there was always something brewing in her pot. Shortly before her death, a judge paid Gunn a visit and ended up in a dispute with her. That same judge attended Gunn’s funeral and was discovered dead the next morning, his body bruised and mutilated.

The old woman’s ghost was to blame, and she didn’t stop there. Her spirit terrorized the peninsula, wreaking mayhem. It wasn’t until the locals plied a priest with liquor that they found a solution to trap Gudrun. Per the priest’s advice, they left a loose end from a ball of twine for the ghost to grab hold of. She did, and the ball rolled into the hot spring, taking the witch’s ghost with it and trapping her there forever.

A few more ghost stories here.

Image: Alan Parkinson, shared under CC license.